Friday, July 29, 2016

"Kohiki" Pieces by Fuminari Araga

When summer heat gets overwhelming here in
Tokyo, Japan, we tend to miss white ceramics. And not just any other white, but
we wish something that seems cool, but also, quite contradictory, warm at the
same time, and white that can be used with any kind of dish, whether Japanese,
Chinese, Western cuisines... We know we’re asking so much, but Fuminari Araga’s work can
actually make all of these wishes come true.

Kohiki is a technique that covers the clay
body with white slip and then translucent glaze. Fascinating aspect of Araga-san’s kohiki is
that as you use it, the brown color from meals or drinks gradually seep into
the small cracks on the surface called crazings. We Japanese call this “growing” or
“maturing” and enjoy the gradual change of colors of the crazings.

Even leftovers from the day before, or deli
from the grocery store can look scrumptuous when served in Araga-san’s
work. This particular piece called
“Rinka Mukouzuke”, rinka meaning flower petal shaped, is the perfect size for a single serving of
side dish for Japanese food.

[Fuminari Araga Kohiki Meshi-wan (Rice
Bowl) 3024 yen

A photo of “meshi-wan”, single serving rice
bowl, that sits comfortably in the hand.

Caring and handling of ceramics, handmade by
an artist may seem a bit difficult, but Araga-san’s pieces are very practical:
they can be used in both microwave and dishwasher. If soaked in water before
used, the ceramics absorbs the water a bit and glistens softly.

In order to keep the subtle marks made by the
hand-throwing process, Araga-san tries to avoid carving as much as possible
except for the foot. Araga-san’s highly
trained throwing technique is demonstrated in his work as seen in this
photo.